Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame to honor inductees

Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame To Honour Inductees
Twelve Canadians and one Canadian organization are among those to be inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame at the Hall's official Gala scheduled for April 17, 2010 at Sheraton ...

Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame To Honour Inductees

Twelve Canadians and one Canadian organization are among those to be inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame at the Hall's official Gala scheduled for April 17, 2010 at Sheraton Centre Toronto.

Ten of the inductees were originally nominated for the 2009 Gala, which was moved to this year, while three new inductees have been added to the list for this year's April event.

The Hall of Fame comes under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Canadian Motorsport Heritage Foundation, created by a group of leading international businessmen.

The Canadian Motorsports Heritage Foundation aims to preserve the collection and exhibits installed in the former Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame, as well as provide visitors with a comprehensive and interactive look at the long and storied history of motor racing in Canada.

The Foundation also created a new International Category for this year and
former Le Mans 24-hour winner Carroll Shelby of California will be the
initial inductee under this new category.

"I was delighted last fall, when the Canadian Motorsport Heritage Foundation
announced expansion of the Hall of Fame to include an International category to
recognize people outside of Canada who helped develop and grow Canadian
motor sport. It was no surprise to me that Carroll Shelby would be the first
inductee." said Paul Cooke, Comstock Racing Team Manager from 1963 to 1968.

"In the 1960's, Carroll Shelby was hugely instrumental in helping Chuck Rathgeb's
Comstock Racing Team of Canadian drivers such as Ludwig Heimrath, Eppie Wietzes,
George Eaton and Craig Fisher become household names as well as all being
inducted to the Hall of Fame."

Chuck Rathgeb forged a long0x2010term relationship with Ford and Carroll Shelby and the Shelby
organization worked directly with Comstock to field the Cobra 289, Cobra 427, King Cobra and Shelby Mustangs.

"History shows that the Comstock Racing Team was the most successful Canadian racing team ever seen at the time. The support given to Comstock under the direction of Carroll
was invaluable," concluded Cooke.

The Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame will be housed in a new facility at Parc Downsview Park. Construction is currently underway at the new home. In addition, the hall will have a special display at the Canadian Motorsports Expo January 22-24 at the International Centre in Mississauga, featuring Paul Tracy's Player's Indy car and the Multimatic Mustang GT cars as well general information on the Hall.